Electric aeg lamp



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G.O.PYLB.

ELEGTRIG ARC LAMP- No. 570,053; Patented Ooh 27, 1896.

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G. O. PYLE.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 570,053. Patented Oct. 27, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

GEORGE O. PYLE, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK I'I. EVERS, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC-ARC LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 570,053, dated October 27, 1896. Application filed January 27, 1896. Serial No. 576,999. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. PYLE, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Arc-Lamps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvements in arc-lamps. These improvements are to make the arc-lamps able to do the reliable and constant work in electric headlights for locomotives. The constant shaking of the apparatus when on a running locomotive is a source of some difficulty, because of its tendency to interfere with and even counteract the action of parts of the lamp, and especially the means for regulating the are. It is clear that any defect in construction whereby the electrodes are not automatically fed as they are consumed, and if the are is not automatically regulated so as to operate with permanent success the light will at times be extinguished, leaving the track in the dark and rendering the headlight apparatus objectionable, if not wholly impracticable, for the purpose intended. The fullnature of my invention will appear from the accompanying drawings and the description and claims following.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my lamp, a part of the lamp-post being on section. Fig. 2 is what may be called a front elevation of it. Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail of the upper portion of the lamp-post and regulating mechanism, parts being broken away and parts in section. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the electrodes at their junction and the guiding mechanism. Fig. 6 is a Vertical section of the spring-support for the lower electrode. Fig. 7 shows the clutchwhecl mechanism. Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line X X of Fig. 7.

Upon a suitable base-plate 1, having the base-post 2 extending up from it, is mounted the lamp-post 3. The lamp-post has an enlarged hollow base that fits over the base-post 2, and the entire lamp is vertically adjusted by means of the screw-bolt at, passing through an interiorly-threaded opening in the arm 5,

extending from the lower end of the lamppost, the lower end of the screw-bolt being rotatably secured at 6 to the base-plate 1. This screw-bolt 4 has on it the thumb-nut 7 to hold the arm 5 in place on the screw-bolt. By this means the lamp is adjusted so that the light will be in that position relative to the reflector which will make the reflection of the light most powerful.

From the lower end of the lamp-post there is extended the horizontal arm 8, being preferably a piece of channeled iron, with its body vertical and with a flange on each edge,whereby it formsa guideway as well as holding apparatus for the arm 9,which is movably mounted and secured in such channeled arm 8. On the outer end of the arm 9 I secure the tube 10, with its lower end partially closed and its upper end open.

Within the tube 10 I place a spiral spring 11, that fits snugly against the wall of the tube and extends normally for some distance above the tube. Within the spiral spring 11 I place a second or inner tube 12, having its lower end closed wholly or partially and its upper end open and provided with an outwardly-extendin g annular flange 13, that rests upon and is supported by the upper end of the spiral spring 11. lVithin this second or inner tube 12 I place a second spiral spring 14, fitting snugly against the wall of the tube and extending likewise for some distance above its upper end. Upon this second spiral spring 14 I place the electrode-holder 15, which has a stem or rod 16, that extends down for some distance within the second or inner spiral spring 14.

It is observed that'the second or inner tube 13 does not normally extend to the bottom of the outer tube 10 and the rod 16 does not extend to the bottom of the inner tube 13. By this mechanism the lower electrode 17, which is carried upon the electrode-holder 15, is normally forced upward by the spring mechanism, that is very sensitive and capable of permittin g the electrode-holder to have great variation in movement, so that it will continue to support and push upward the electrode from the time it is first inserted until it is consumed.

l lxtendiu g parallel with the lower electrode and its supporting mechanism is a guide-bar lb, carried on the arm 9 at the lower end of the lamp and provided with guidingriugs at its upper end whereby it guides the direction of movement of the lower electrode. In the upper end of this guide-bar is a stop Bl, consisting of the inwardly extending screw that is screwed in until it engages the conical end of the lower electrode and stops it in its upward movement, thus counteracting the action of the spring-support below and holding the upper end of the lower electrode always in the same place. It is obvious that this holding of the lower electrode is effected by the cooperation of the stop 2] and the upperguide ring 2 ()ne effect of so sensitive a springsupport for the lower electrode is to avoid the tendency of the conical points of the electrode to break and the two electrodes to come together with too great force, whatever maybe the cause of such movement on their part.

On the upperend of the lamp-post is a channeled arm 22, like the arm 8 below, excepting that it is smaller, and in it is secured the bent arm 23. In its outer end I place a pin 24-, with :free ends that support the bracket 25, to which is secured the upper guide-bar 526, that extends parallel with the upper electrode 27. The attachment of the bracket 25 on the pin 24 is such that the former can be readily removed. At the lower end of the guide-bar 2G I provide the guide-ring 59, which surrounds the upper electrode. I connect the lower end of the guide-bar it and the upper end of the guiderod 18 by means of the arm 2%, extending from the lower end of the upper guide-bar and having the downwardlyextending arm 29, that extends through a slot or recess in the arm from the upper end of the lower guide-bar 18. This mechanism holds the ap preaching ends of the two electrodes in line with each other. The upper end of the upper elect-rode is held in place by the clamp 31, that slides on the upper guide-bar 2c.

The difficulty of regulating the are in a lamp to be used on a locomotive so that the lamp will emit a continuous light is, as I have said, very great, because of the jarring of the locomotive while running. The ordinary means used in lamps I have found is not satisfactory, and I have endeavored to make a regulating mechanism that will meet this dit'lieulty. The lamp-post 8 is hollow, and on its upper end is carried a bracket 32, having mounted in its opposing arms a shaft 33. On this shaft is rigidly mounted a sprocket-wheel 3t and also a clutch-wheel I connect a chain 230 to the clamp 23], which holds the upper electrode, and pass such chain back over the sprocket-wheel 3t and down into the hollow lamp-post 3, where it is attached to the weight 237. Loosely mounted on the shaft 33 is a lever 38. It is bent in substantially the form shown in the plan VlOW, Fig. 3, and one end 39 of it is enlarged and has secured to it the spring 40, that extends down and is attached to the lower end of the screw-bolt at, which passes through the lower bracket it, that carries a solenoid ii The screwbolt ll has the thumb-screw ll; on it above the bracket 4-2 and a nut below, whereby the tension of the spring 40 may be regulated. This connection and means for regulating the spring 4:0 is exterior to the lamp-post, as seen in Fig. 2, instead of interior, as some might think from inspecting Fig. 1. The other or smaller end of the lever 38 at its extremity is connected up with the dash-pot l5 by the link ettl.

The clutch-wheel has a laterally-extending rim about its periphery and adjacent to the lever 38 and especially the portion 3.). On the inside of the portion 3t) ot' the lever 38 at 4-7 I pivot a link etc. To this again I pivot the clutch-link til, having in. its free end a notch or slot, making jaws OS on each side that envelop or embrace the laterallyextending rim of the clutch-wheel The notch is wider, preferably, than the thickness of the rim, so that the jaws have some play thereon. By the gravity of that clutch il. it moves downward on the rim of the wheel 35 until its jaws 02 on each side of the notch. engage and clamp said rim, and since the link T8 is secured to the lever 23H the relative position of the two is locked. \Vhile the lamp is running, the position of these parts is sub stantially that shown in Fig. 7. \Vhen, however, for some reason there is a movement of the parts of the lamp whereby the small end of the lever 38 is drawn upward by the pull of the spring I: and the weakness of the current through the solenoid, the wheel 35 will be rotated until the clutch 61 contacts with the lug (5 3, which is integral with the lamppost, whereby the clutch is pushed back and thereby loses its hold on the rim of the wheelb5. The portion 30 of the wheel 35 will also at times engage the lug (53, and therefore the use of said lug is to limit the move ment of the lever as well. as the clutch til. After the hold of the clutch 61. has been released, as above described, the parts are free to resume their normal position when the solenoid and other parts succeed in restoring the are. In such case the core of the solenoid is drawn down, which causes the clutch mecln a-nism to again assume the position shown in Fig. 7, where the lever 38 and wheel are relatively locked.

In order that the hold of the clutch on the rim of the wheel 35 may be positive and not be jarred loose by the shaking of the lamp when on the locomotive, the spring (it added, which cooperates wit-h the action of gravity on said clutch (51 and forces it into a locked position, excepting when the clutch, as has been explained, comes into contact with the lug 63, and the clutch, together with the spring (ll, are pushed backward and the hold of the clutch released. I have found this device to be very successful in operation.

Extending from the middle portion of the lever 38 is an arm 49, with a chain 50 suspended from its outer end, that is attached to the core 51 of the electrode 43.

From this description of the regulating mechanism it is seen that the solenoid,through the chain 50, the arm l9, belt -17, clutch-wheel 35, shaft 33, sprocket-wheel 34, and sprocketchain 36, which extends over the pulley 52, elevates the upper electrode. \Vhen the core 51 is drawn downward by the increased electric force, the upper electrode is elevated. The weight 87 cooperates with the solenoid while the lamp is working, as it also tends to elevate the upper electrode. Practically the weight 37 tends to counterbalance the weight of the upper electrode and clamp 31 and to keep the chain taut in case of jarring of the lamp. iVhile the weight 37 and the solenoid cooperate to produce the same result,

the dash-pot 45, as well as the spring and the weight of the upper electrode, tend to counteract the action of the solenoid and weight and render their action slow, deliberate, and regular. Thus it is observed that in my regulating mechanism I have provided several means for compensating any jarring which the lamp may receive from the locomotive.

,The electric current is transmitted to the upper electrode through the wire 57, bindingpost 59, and wire 53, which is connected with the clamp mechanism 31. The circuit passes down through the lower electrode and out through the wire 54, that leads from the electrode-holder to the solenoid through which the current passes. From the solenoid it passes through the wire 60, binding-post 55, and wire 56 away from the lamp.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. I11 an arc-lamp, the combination of a gravity-fed upper electrode,a lower electrode, telescoping springs to support said electrode and feed it upward and a solenoid to regulate the arc.

In an arc-lamp, the combination with the lower electrode, and a lower arm to support the same, of a spring-supported tube carried in the lower arm, and a spring-supported electrode-holder carried in such tube.

3. In an arc-lamp, the combination with the lower electrode, and a lower arm to support it, of a vertical tube carried in such lower arm, a spiral spring coiled within the tube, a second tube within the spiral spring having a flanged top to support it on the spring, a second spiral spring within the second tube, and an electrode-holder within the second spiral spring having a cap on it to support it on the spring, substantially as set forth.

4. In an arc-lamp, the combination with a lower electrode, an arm extending from the framework, a spring-support for the lower electrode mounted thereon, a guiding-bar extending parallel with the electrode, a guidering secured to such guiding-bar, and a screw or stop secured to the guiding-bar that e11- gages the conical upper end of the electrode whereby the screw and guide-ring will coop erate to limit the upward movement of the spring-supported electrode and hold the upper end thereof in place.

5. In an arc-lamp, a framework, suitable upper and lower electrodes, a guiding-bar extending parallel to the lower electrode with a slotted lateral extension near its upper end, a guide-ring near its upper end, a guidingbar parallel to the upper electrode, a guidering secured to its lower end surrounding the upper electrode, and a downwardly-extending arm from the lower end of the upper guidebar which extends loosely through the recesses in the laterally-extending bar in the upper end of the lower guide-bar.

6. In an arc-lamp, the clutch-wheel 35 provided with a laterally-extending rim, a lever mounted adjacent to said rim having the enlarged end 39, a core and solenoid connected with said lever, a link 48 pivoted to the lever, the clutch 61 pivoted at one end to the link and at the other end provided with jaws which engage the laterally-extending rim on the clutch-wheel and a stop to engage such clutch and enlarged end of the lever to limit their movement.

7. In an arc-lamp, the combination with a lamp-post, an arm extending from its upper end, a guide-bar held by such arm parallel with the upper electrode, means slidably mounted on the guide-bar for holding the electrode, a pulley mounted on the outer end of the arm from thelamp-post, asprocket-Wheel mounted rigidly 011 a shaft carried in the up per end of the lamp-post, a chain extending from the upper electrode-holder over the pulley and sprocket-chain to the Weight, a lever loosely mounted on the shaft at the upper end of the lamp-post, an adjustable spring connected with one end of the lever, a dash-pot connected up with the other end of such lever, a solenoid also connected up with the other end of such lever, a drum mounted rigidly on the shaft at the upper end of the lamp-post, and a strap connected with such drum at one end and with said lever at the other end, whereby the solenoid and weight will tend to elevate the upper electrode while the dash-pot, spiral spring and gravity of the upper electrode will tend to depress it, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of January, 1896.

GEORGE O. PYLE. lVitnesses:

V. H. LOCKWOOD, ZULA GREEN. 

